Glass-pressing apparatus.



No. 838,875. PATENTED DEG. 18.1906. L. N. LOVELAND.

GLASS PRESSING APPARATUS.

- APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6. 1906.

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No. 838,875. PATENTED DEC. 18, 1906. L. N. LOVELAND. GLASS PRESSING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB 6. 1906.

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UNITED gTATES PATENT orr'rcn LUOIUS N. LOVELAND, OF MANNINGTON, I/VEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO H. E. TRAVIS, OF MANNINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

GLASSPRESSING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

Application filed February 6, 1906. Serial No. 299,756.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LUCIUS N. LOVELAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mannington, in the county of Marion and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Glass- Pressing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that type of machine wherein it is necessary or desirable to vary the speed during certain part or parts of the operation; and the object is to provide automatic speed-varying means of simple and improved construction which changes from one speed to another and, if necessary, back to the initial speed without afl'ecting the speed of the driving mechanism or powershaft.

While the invention may be applied to machines of various kinds, it is designed, primarily, for so varying the speed of powerdriven glass-pressing apparatus that the pressed article is retained within the mold sufficiently long to afford the glass time to set, whereby it may be removed or separated from the mold without injury thereto. Heretofore no means has been provided for varying the speed, thus making it necessary in the manufacture of various kinds of pressed articles or blanks to run the machine at such a slow speed as to very materially reduce its normal producing capacity, and with some machines the absence of mechanism of this kind has resulted in the production of very defective ware. I/Vith the improved mechanism herein shown and described the speed is automatically reduced during only so much of the operation as is absolutely neces sary, the speed during the remainder of the time being such as to facilitate the operation and to enable the machine to produce a relatively large amount of ware.

As the improved mechanism was designed, primarily, for and has been applied to the ONeill glass-working machines, I have so illustrated the same for the purpose of this application, showing such parts of the ONeil machine disclosed in Patent No. 674,248, May 14, 1901, as are necessary for a clear un derstanding of the invention. It will be understood, however, that the improved mechanism may be applied to various types of glass-working machines, as well as machines in other arts requiring variations in speed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure'l is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of a portion of the ONeill machine of the patent above referred to with my improved mechanism applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates the base of the glass-pressing mechanism, and 3 the shaft journaled therein, carrying eccentrics 4.

5 represents the upright pitmen, connected to eccentrics 4 by wrists 5, the pitmen at their upper ends being connected by crosshead 6, movable in the upper portion 2 of the frame. Depending from and movablewertically in the cross-head is the presser-b'ar 7, held normally depressed by spring 8.

9 represents the plungers, which project radially from head 10, the latter being rotatably mounted at the upper ends of slides 11. Rollers 12, carried by these slides, bear upon eccentrics 4, and by this means the slides and the plunger-carrying head are raised and lowered. The plungers are so arranged that two of them aline through head 10, so that bar 7, operating on the uppermost plunger,

forces the plunger alining therewith into mold 13 during the pressing operation.

The mechanism thus far referred to, together with the other mechanisms with which it coop crates, is fully shown and-described in the above-mentioned ONeill patent.

After the article has been pressed it is desirable to retain it within the mold sufiiciently long to permit the glass to set, so that when being removed its own weight, plus any resistance the mold may offer to its removal, will not injuriously affect the article by distortion or otherwise. In the present embodiment of the invention this is accomplished by decreasing the speed of eccentrics 4 as wrists 5 approach their bottom centers, this slower movement being maintained until the ascent of the wrists and pitmen is begun. Ample time is thus afforded the glass to become set, so that when removed by neck-mold 14 the blank neck will not pull or become distorted, the blank as a whole retaining the shape imparted to it by the mold and plunger.

I will now describe the variable-speed mechanism, together with the means which I have provided for causing the glass-pressing mechanism to automatically change the speed from fast to slow and back again to fast at the required times.

Shaft 3 is connected by gearing 15 with counter-shaft 16, and gear 17 on the latter meshes with clutch-pinion 18, loose on power shaft 19, the latter carrying driving-pulley 20. Above shaft 19 is shaft 21, to which it is connected by gearing 22, and pinion 23 on shaft 21 meshes with gear 24, which is loose on power-shaft 19 and which is provided with an elongated hub 24. Splined to this hub, but slidable thereon, is clutch-head 25, which is adapted to embrace one of the coneshaped ends of pinion 18. The opposite end of the pinion is adapted to be embraced by a head of similar shape 26, splined to but slidable on power-shaft 19. Clutches or clutchheads of various kinds may be used, and it will be understood that the different speed gearings may be variously arranged or embodied.

Beneath shaft 19 is the longitudinallymovable clutch-shifting rod 27, carrying arm 28, which embraces clutch-head 25, and a similar arm 29 embracing head 26. Beneath rod 27 is the bell-crank lever 30, having the extremity of its upright arm slotted at 31 and embracing pin 31, carried by rod 27. The extremity 30 of the other arm of the lever is of arrow shape and adapted to be engaged by roller 32, carried by the lower end of pivoted arm 32, said arm being held normally drawn inward toward lever 30 by the spring-andbolt'connection 33, operating in conjunction with the fixed stop 33. Lever 30 is connected to one end of the vertically-oscillating lever 34, the latter being fulcrumed between its ends at 34 and at its opposite end carrying roller 35. Secured to one of pitmen 5 is the extension-plate 36, and secured thereto in the plane of roller 35 is deflector 37 of angular shape, while at one side of this deflector and somewhat lower is the slotted oblique deflector 38, adjustably secured by clamping-screws 38.

In operation eccentrics 4 turn in the directions indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, and as wrists 5 approach their bottom centersat which time the plunger is in its lowermost position within the molddeflector 37 engages roller 35, depressing that end of lever 34 and raising its opposite end, thereby raising the horizontal arm of bell-crank lever 30. The first portion of this movement causes the upper slotted arm of lever 30 to move idly over pin 31 of the shifting-rod, and at the same time the inclined face of the arrowshaped extremity of the lever is deflecting outwardly arm 32 against the pull of spring 33. The end of slot 31 reaches pin 31 simultaneously with the arrow extremity passing the center of roller 32, at which instant the retraction of spring 33 forces lever 30 upward, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, thus suddenly throwing shifting-rod 27 to the right, which movement throws the fast-speed clutch 26 out of engagement with pinion 18 and the slow-speed clutch 25 into engagement therewith. Thus the speed is very materially reduced, thereby so augmenting the period of rest of the plunger within the mold as to afford the glass ample time to set. It is desirable to so arrange the gearing that the normal movement of the mechanism is about ten times faster than its speed when on the slow gear. After wrists 5 pass their bottom centers and begin the ascent the under side of lever-roller 35 is engaged by the inclined face of deflector 38 and gradually raised, thus reversing the above-described gear-shifting operation and as quickly changing from the slow to the faster gear. While it is desirable to provide for lost motion, together with means for quickly or instantly throwing the clutches at the proper moment, such arrangement is not absolutely essential and may, if desired, be dispensed with. The clutch-throwing mechanism may be variously constructed, also variously connected to the driven machine for operating automatically without departing from the invention.

With the mechanism constructed and arranged as here shown the glass is under the pressure of the plunger during practically all of the period of slow movement. While this is desirable, it is not deemed essential, as after being once pressed into shape the glass may set effectually without retaining the pressure. However, when under pressure or with the plunger fully within the pressed article the glass cannot by any possibility lose its shape during the setting period.

I claim 1. The combination of poweractuated glass-pressing mechanism, and means for suddenly decreasing the movement of said .mechanism for the pressing operation and for suddenly increasing the movement after said operation.

2. The combination of glass pressing mechanism, mechanisms of different speeds for driving the pressing mechanism, and means actuated by the pressing mechanism for rendering the driving mechanisms operative alternately.

3. The combination of glass pressing mechanism, fast and slow speed driving mechanisms therefor, and means for rendering the fast-speed mechanism inoperative and the slow-speed mechanism operative during the pressing operation.

4. In glass-pressing apparatus, the combi- Lil nation of fast and slow speed driving mechanisms, pressing mechanism in operative connection with the fast-speed mechanism excepting when pressing, and means actuated by the pressing mechanism for changing to the slow-speed mechanism only for the pressing operation.

5. The combination of glass-pressing mechanism, power mechanism adapted to move the pressing mechanism before and after the pressing operation at uniform speed,

.and means for decreasing the speed of the pressing mechanism during the pressing operation without afi'ecting the speed of the actuating mechanism.

6. The combination of a power-shaft, a driving-gear, fast and slow speed gearings adapted alternately to connect the drivinggear with the powershaft, shifting mechanism for said gearings, a lever having a lostmotion connection with the shifting mechanism, a spring against which the lever pulls when moving through its lost motion, glass pressing mechanism geared to said drivinggear, and means for operatively connecting said lever with the glass-pressing mechanism.

7 The combination of a power-shaft, a drivinggear, fast and slow gearings adapted alternately to connect the driving-gear with 7 the power-shaft, a shifting-rod for said gearings, a lever connected to said rod, a second lever connected to the first-mentioned lever, and glass-pressing mechanism geared to said driving-gear and adapted to operatively engage and actuate said second lever.

8. The combination of glass pressing mechanism, two deflectors carried thereby one behind and following the other, a shifting member adapted to be moved in one direction by the first deflector and in the opposite direction by the second or following deflector, and changeable-speed-driving mechanisms to which said shifting member is connected and which is adapted to be shifted thereby from one speed to another.

9. The combination of glass pressing mechanism, deflectors on the driven mechanism, means for varying the space between the deflectors, a lever adapted to be engaged and moved in reverse directions by the deflectors, and variable-speed-driving mechanism connected to said lever and adapted to be shifted thereby from one speed to another.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LUCIUS N. LOVELAND.

WVitnesses:

D. P. KENNEDY, ZELLA HARLAN. 

